Analyses that evaluate the success of HBCUs by observing their six-year graduation rates often miss the mark. On the surface, graduation rates tell us little about a college’s or university’s ability to educate a racially and economically diverse student body. Few colleges and universities educate a majority low-income student body and also graduate the majority…

On Bladensburg Road along the border of Prince George’s County, Md., and Washington, D.C., a billboard reads, “57% of District of Columbia students drop out.” The billboard is large and imposing, with an orange backdrop and bold diagonal dashes on each side to mimic a road-hazard sign. Many would find the content of the sign to…

Editor’s note: This weekend, Morehouse College hosted the inaugural summit in a White House-sponsored series of events aimed at addressing educational outcomes for African-American students. The Morehouse event, called the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans: Addressing the Socio-Cultural Factors Impacting the Academic Achievement and Development of African American Males, focused on…

Major changes are coming to the SAT. Both the SAT and the ACT are used to influence admissions and placement at colleges and universities in the U.S. In 2016 the SAT will return to a 1,600-point scale from 2,400, eliminate antiquated vocabulary words and assess students’ understanding of context rather than rote memorization. The essay…

Here’s what a research study feels like to a black male teenager: “To be seen as a person with a name … then poof! A statistic, a memory and, to many, a shame,” said an 11th-grader named Asa Fludd. I repeat this quote often to remind social advocates and cultural critics alike that our reckless…

(The Root) — In a March 2012 article for Baton Rouge, La.’s The Advocate, reporter Naomi Martin wrote, referring to me, “While some of his childhood friends still sell drugs on the streets of Baton Rouge, Toldson has a much different life as a professor at Howard University.” This statement confused me and made me…

(The Root) — A famous quotation, which is often stated and attributed to many, is: “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” When a jury of George Zimmerman’s peers acquitted him of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., many advocates in the black community were…

(The Root) — On July 5, Ivory Kaleb Toldson was born. He is my first son and second child. During his birth I relived the joy, wonderment and jitters that I experienced in 2007 when my daughter, Makena, was born. Like millions of parents, I want the best education for my children. As a black…

(The Root) — Do black children have natural disadvantages in school because most are from single-parent homes? Recently, comedian Bill Cosby chided the “apathy” he observed among black parents. He, like many others, believes that the fading presence of the black nuclear family places black children at a social disadvantage and creates a burden on…